Say Anything For The Baby
by P.O.J
Summary: Say Anything...1989 Two months after Lloyd and Diane get to England, they are faced with the stresses of life. College, financial issues, a filthy appartment...and something else is to be added to the mix.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own these characters. I am not collecting monetary profit from this story. Say Anything... belongs to Cameron Crowe. I do not own the rirights to this story. Any lines taken from the movie belong to Cameron Crowe.

Chapter 1

In The Apartment

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Ugh!" Lloyd moaned as he rolled over and looked at the time. "5:45." he whispered to himself and threw his head back on his pillow exasperated. The moon shown clearly through the window of the apartment. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, when he felt Diane's hand rub his shoulder.

"Lloyd, turn it off! I want to sleep." she moaned.

"Oh, sorry honey." Lloyd replied. With one swift movement he lifted his fist and punched down on the off button on the top of the alarm clock. It was quiet now. He turned on the lamp and rolled over to face Diane. Her eyes were closed, ignoring the light. Her right ear was using her arm as a pillow, covers at her waist. She breathed deeply. Lloyd propped his head up on his hand and looked at her. A contented smile came to his face. He loved her like this. To Lloyd, her messed hair and relaxed, sleepy face made Diane even desirable at 5:45 in the morning! He couldn't believe that he was in London with the woman he loved. Just two months ago, he hadn't given much thought to what he'd do with his life. His mind drifted back to the day that they had left for London, and the conversation he had had with Diane's father.

"_Your not a permanent part of her life. You're a distraction." _her father had said coolly. Lloyd had simply replied, _" I'm the distraction that's going with her to England, sir. What I want to do with my life- what I want to do for a living- is to be with your daughter. I'm good at it." _A chuckle came to him and Lloyd leaned over to kiss Diane on the cheek. He placed a stray hair, balancing on her forehead, and set it behind Diane's ear. He rubbed her cheek to gently wake her. Diane o opened her eyes slowly and gave him a smile, not saying a word.

Moments past as they lost themselves in each other. Diane chuckled after awhile. "Honey, your rubbing my cheek raw!" she said with a smile. She grabbed Lloyd and brought his finger to her lips, softly and slowly kissing them. Her eyes were getting heavy with sleep once more. "You should get up." said the now drowsy eighteen year old.

"I know, I'll get up in a minute." he replied, his eyes smiling. He waited until her eyes had closed entirely before he moved.

Lloyd was in the bathroom brushing his teeth and getting ready for his day. Rushing from the bathroom, he found his boxing shorts on the floor by the walk-in closet. He put them on quickly. Lloyd spotted his gloves he slicked his fingers through his inky black hair. Lloyd put on a dirty white shirt and ran over to the far window to grab his duffle bag. He also got some extra sweats for after training, and threw everything into the bag.

He thought of Diane and glanced over his shoulder to find her still sleeping peacefully. A slight, pinged anger came over Lloyd as he thought of Diane's father. Her father had stolen money from the nursing home that he and Diane worked at a couple months ago to pay for her college and give Diane a cushy life. Lloyd was proud of her for not taking the money when her father went to prison. _How could he do this to his own daughter?_ Lloyd thought.

The two of them had been living in a cheap, ant infested apartment. Lloyd hadn't been able to find a job yet and Diane was working at a local diner while going to London Metropolitan University ten minutes away. They were just sleeping on the box spring and mattress, because they couldn't afford a frame for the mattress. Lloyd's kick-boxing matches, though few and far between, seemed to be the only thing that was keeping them stable. They meant money, not much, but money nonetheless. Their financial troubles had become a nervous topic for Diane lately.

Throwing his duffle over his shoulder he went over to grab his tan trench coat off the dresser by the bedroom door. He opened up the door and unloaded everything in the hallway. Lloyd walked back over to the bed and bent down to kiss Diane goodbye. She opened her eyes. "I love you." she moaned.

"Love you too." he whispered. Lloyd kissed Diane's forehead and pulled the comforter up to her shoulders. Diane snuggled down into it and gave Lloyd a sleepy smile.

"What should I dream about?" she asked with a half smile.

"Hmm… that's an interesting question." he thought for a moment, laughing at the unexpected comment. "Dream about… our first time. Remember? Down at the cove, in the car?"

"I remember." Diane slurred, content with his choice. Lloyd leaned over the bed to turn off the lamp.

"Gotta go." Lloyd said slowly. Diane said nothing. She sighed closing her eyes to sleep once more. Lloyd stood up straight and walked out of the room, looking back at her for a moment and then closing the door gently behind him. He ran down the stairs, duffle bag and coat in hand.

Diane rolled over after Lloyd left and reset the alarm clock, then fell back to sleep. When the alarm clock went off once more at eight-thirty, Diane moaned, threw the covers off, and shifted so that her feet hit the cold wood floor. A pale gray light came the window now. Hurrying to the bathroom to get out of the cold, she turned the shower on high, undressed and got into the tub. Minutes later the bathroom was filled with steam. Diane snatched the white cotton towel off the rack on the door and wrapped herself in it. She stepped in front of the mirror and rubbed the fog off so that she could see herself.

She could hear Lloyd climbing the stairs. He was whistling. Diane opened the bathroom door to greet him. There was Lloyd at the doorway to the bedroom, arms above his head, beating out a rhythm with his fingertips on the doorpost and a half-cocked smile on his face. "Hi honey. How was training?" Diane asked with a toothbrush in her mouth. Lloyd entered the room and took off his trench coat and put down his duffle bag by the closet.

"Good." he replied. Diane stepped out of the bathroom quickly and grabbed some old jeans and a lime green t-shirt out of the closet. She went back to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. A moment later there was a knock on the door. "What do you want to do when you get home tonight?" Lloyd asked.

"I'm really behind in my World Civ. Class and I need to do some studying. Professor Evans really didn't like my last paper on Chinese immigrants in America and I need to get a good start on this next one." Diane stood to button her pants around her waist, but it took a minute because they didn't fit her quite right. After a moment she got them buttoned and her stomach shifted. She suddenly felt queasy and had to sit back on the toilet. _That's strange, _she thought. Diane made a mental note to not eat anything heavy today.

"Oh.'' Lloyd said on the other side of the door, a bit disgruntled. Diane opened the door moments later. Lloyd gave her a quick, light, clean kiss and then disconnected. She smiled gently a moment and stepped past him to sit on the bed and put on her shoes. "What?…What's the matter Diane?" Lloyd asked, confused at her gestures.

"Nothing babe, I'm just a bit queasy, that's all." Diane replied, head down clenching her stomach. Lloyd scrunched his eye-brows together at the bridge of his nose. After a moment, Lloyd went to the bathroom and came back with a spoonful of Pepto-Bismol and a plastic cup full of water.

"Your gonna need this." he said concerned.

"No, it's fine. I don't need it." she protested. She put her hand up to the medicine to push it away.

"You'll thank me later, love. Take it." Lloyd replied, handing her the spoon. With no further protest, Diane swallowed the pink, chalky mess quickly and then choked down the glass of water to wash out the taste. She was VERY glad he had thought of that. Sitting there for a minute, it hit Diane just how lucky she was to have Lloyd. She smiled up at him endearingly and admired him. THIS was why she had fallen in love with him.

"I plan to look for a job right after I get out of the shower." Lloyd said.

"Well…we need the money Lloyd." Diane replied worriedly. Lloyd could hear the concern overpowering Diane's voice. He knelt down by the bed and placed his arms loosely at her waist. Lloyd stared into her eyes.

"Diane, I'll take care of you. I promise. In two weeks I will have a job." Lloyd said endearingly. Diane nodded slowly, acknowledging what he had said.

"Love you, Diane." They exchanged a soft hug. Diane looked at her watch.

"Oh, man! I'm late. I have to go." She rose to her feet and snatched her leather jacket that was hanging off of Lloyd's boom box. Diane turned and was met with another light kiss goodbye from Lloyd. She ran out the door and Lloyd heard her rushing down the stairs. Lloyd walked into the hallway.

"I'll see you tonight, babe." Lloyd hollered down the stairs.

"YOU TOO!"

The front door slammed shut and Diane was gone. Lloyd turned to go empty his duffle bag still sitting by the closet.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Pregnancy Tests!

Lloyd emptied his duffle bag. He put every thing in its proper place and got into the shower shortly after. The bathroom filled with steam. As the water hit his body he thought of the places he would hit for jobs today and the bills he and Diane had to pay. His stomach churned with worry. A decent pile of bills were laying on the living room coffee table that they hadn't even opened yet, among which were Diane's college bill, the water bill, and Lloyd's car payment was due. He hadn't told Diane yet, for fear of upsetting her more, but yesterday they had gotten a electric shut off notice. As he lathered himself up, he thanked God that they hadn't gotten an eviction notice yet. Last month's rent hadn't been paid yet and this month's rent was among the bills not paid. Luckily though, their landlord was an understanding, quiet man who knew that most of their money was going to Diane's college payments and gave them some slack because of it.

Lloyd shut off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist. Moments later he was sitting again on the bed it his towel. His head was in his hands for a moment. Lloyd got himself together, raked his fingers through his scalp, and got up to find the newspaper he'd been reading for the last two days. Finding it on the dresser, he grabbed a red pen and sat down once more on the bed and went to the Classifieds. The page was already filled with red circles and re X's but there was still a couple of jobs that Lloyd hadn't looked into. Lloyd scanned down the page to find the empty spaces between his red marks. He spotted a construction site job and circled it frantically. He found a secretarial job but passed it over. Lloyd spotted something a moment later and his eyes lit up with excitement and he circled it a couple times. Deciding that was the job for him, Lloyd threw the newspaper down and hurriedly went through the closet to find his nicest t-shirt and some nice jeans. _I hope they take me_, he thought. Lloyd dressed quickly and put back on his trench coat and snatch up his boxing gloves, left in the duffle bag, putting them in his inside pocket. He now had a skip in his step and the smile that was on his face before, was now ear-to-ear. He ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Grabbing his keys, Lloyd left the house, headed for the Youth Boxing and Karate building a few blocks away.

Diane closed the front door of the apartment behind her and in her car. There was a cold wind blowing and it already looked like it was going to rain. Getting in and starting her car, she felt queasy once more. As she drove to school, Diane couldn't help but worry about their financial issues. Her biggest worry was her college bill. Diane was soon lost in her thought and almost ran through a red light. Brought back to reality with the abrupt honking of the car opposite her, she cursed herself. _This is Lloyd we're talkin' about. He always does what he says. He always keeps his promises. Don't worry, he'll take care of me. Diane…he'll take care of you. _As she passed a McDonald's the queasiness in her stomach got stronger.

Diane clenched at her stomach once more. Something was different. Diane couldn't quite place it, but something definitely felt different about her. She knew it wasn't just this sickness. And Diane had the strange feeling, that this difference was something big. Diane turned into the parking lot of the university, parked shut off her car. Diane wrapped her fingers around the steering wheel put her head down, trying to think of what was so different with her. After a while, she gave up and grabbed her books out of the passenger seat and got out of her car. As she walked to the front door, she noticed someone with a sonic bag and she could smell the food from a distance oddly. All of the sudden, her stomach lurched forward and every muscle in her body seemed to lock. Knowing what was coming, Diane threw her books down on the pavement and turned. In less than two seconds she was to her knees and looking at the pink medicine she had swallowed fifteen minutes ago.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a guy running towards her. He put his hand between her shoulder blades and knelt down to speak to her. It was Philip from her World English class. He gave her a minute to catch her breath before the questioning began. "Diane…Diane, are you okay? Do you want me to walk to the infirmary? You should call Lloyd to pick you up love." concern filled his voice.

"Phillip…I'm…fine" Diane managed between breaths. I'll be okay…this was the only thing I ate today. Nothing else should come up."

"You still need to go home. You just vomited."

"I just got here. If I go home now, I'll have to make it up later. I'll be fine." Realizing she was right, there wasn't much more of an argument.

"At least call Lloyd, Diane." said Phillip, a resigned tone to his voice.

"That'll just worry him more. He saw me this morning and I could tell he was worried about me. There is no need to worry him more if I'm just going to stay here. Besides…if I call him and tell him I got sick, I'll never hear the end of it! Anyways, he'll see me tonight." she replied. " Can you help me up, please Philip?"

"Sure love." He put one hand under Diane's forearm and secured the other around her waist. When Diane stood up straight, Phillip made Diane face him. She could see clearly the worry in his forehead. "Here." He pulled a handkerchief out of his pants pocket and handed it to Diane. "You got some stuff…on the…right there." he said, pointing to the corner left of her mouth. She cleaned herself up. "Are you sure you don't want to go home? I can drive you. Are you sure you don't at least want to get checked out by the nurse?"

"No. Thanks for the offer though. I'll be okay." she responded.

"You sure?" Phillip said with both eye brows raise and a strong dose of skepticism.

"Yes, Phillip"

"Okay…" Phillip put his head down and shook his head slowly. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Diane ignored the last question. Diane notice that her books flew quite a distance away from her and Phillip hurried to gather them for her. He carried Diane's books for her and walked her to the door before letting her go.

The rest of the morning was pretty much uneventful. Diane felt that the sickness had passed her and she was feeling pretty good. In her World English class, she acknowledged Phillip and mouthed a "Thank You" to him. He smiled and nodded back to her when she took her seat. Midway through the class though, Diane started to feel sick once more. Through the course of the class. A kind of fruity, tropical scented perfume had floated under Diane's nose, and it had a nauseating effect. Her stomach started to churn again.

"Professor? Prof…Gardon…May…May I…" Diane cupped her hand to her mouth and made a bee line for the door. Seeing her leave, Phillip followed in close proximity.

"Are you okay?" Diane heard someone ask from outside the stall.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." she said, looking at the unidentifiable substance that she didn't remember eating. Flushing the toilet she went over to the nearest sink. "It's just the flu." she told the girl in the mirror. "Do you have any gum?"

Yeah, sure…here you go." Diane took the gum, cleaned herself up as best she could, and left the restroom when she spotted Phillip.

Phillip had his head down, feet crossed and arms folded when she saw him. He looked up at her, a sly, kind if cocky smile on his face. Diane leaned on the opposite and tilted her head back. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were pregnant." he commented reaching over to playfully pinch Diane's stomach.

"Shut up. I am not. It's just a twenty-four hour bug. I'll be better tomorrow."

"Whatever! There's no bug going around. I'm afraid it's just you sweetheart.

Why else would you throw up again? You said that medicine this morning was the only thing you took all day, right?" Diane raised her eye brows at him.

"Right, but I'm _not_ pregnant. I…I can't be."

"Okay, I was just making an observation. You ready to go back to class?"

"Let's go." Diane smiled.

Diane was on her way to work after school. She thought of Lloyd again. Lloyd had been the one to teach her how to drive. "_Am I wrecking my car?"_ Diane remembered playfully asking.

"_Yeah…a little." _Lloyd answered before kissing her for the first time.

The dinner was packed today. Diane stood at the doorway to the kitchen, waiting for a order. The cook handed her the hot plates and she ran them over to a table with two young children screaming out a chant for her to hurry up with their fries. "Here you go." she said, placing a plate in front of one of the children. Both of them attacked their food like they hadn't ate in a week. Diane just smiled. "You have beautiful children, ma'am." she said before turning to go back to the kitchen. Diane suddenly got that feeling that something was different again. This time she couldn't shake it, and it carried through to when she went for her break.

Diane's stomach was starting to churn yet again. She was sitting at one of the far off tables and had only taken small nibbles off her burger. She cupped her hands to her forehead and breathed deeply. She didn't have a fever. _What if ? _she thought. _What if I'm pregnant? _She made it a point to go get a pregnancy test when she left work."DIANE!" she heard her boss yell from the counter. She jumped from the unexpected call and turned to face him, not saying anything. He was a short, portly man. "Diane go home! Your pale in the face and you look terrible!" he hollered. "Go ahead, clock out. I won't need you for the rest of the day."

"YOU SURE JOHN!?" she yelled back. Diane felt herself getting sick again.

"YEAH! GET OUTTA HERE!" Diane put on her coat and got down from the stool. This small movement seem to trigger her stomach. She looked around frantically for the nearest trash can. There was none. Leaving her car keys at the table, Diane ran for the door. The sun was starting to go down outside and it was pouring rain. Diane went light-headed as she hit the pavement for the second time. She braced herself, and dry heaved. After it was all said and done, John came running out to Diane's aide.

"Are you alright? C'mon love, let's get you inside and dry you off. I'll call your boyfriend to come pick you up. You're in no shape to drive tonight" he said. For the first time all day Diane didn't protest and let her boss help her to her feet and walk her back in the dinner. John walked her back to a small stock room. In the corner, almost unnoticeable, was a small cot and some thin sheets. Diane head swam as she wondered what a cot was doing in the stock room. She finally gave up on concentration, and assumed that it was there for emergencies like this. Can you stand love, while I unfold the cot for you?" Diane's knees were weak and her spun rapidly but she nodded and John quickly unfolded the cot and led her to it. As he helped her to lay down he felt her cheeks. "I'll call Lloyd for you and then I'm gonna be back with a cool cloth, love. I'll be right back. Diane's eyes rolled in the back of her head as she laid her head back on the cot and John left the room.

The next thing she remember was waking up to Lloyd standing over her, soaking in his trench coat and his forehead wrinkled with concern. "How are you doing babe?" she heard him ask. "Let's get you home."

With the help of Diane' boss, Lloyd got Diane in the backseat of his car. Diane could tell Lloyd had planned for this, because there was a small couch pillow by the window and a throw blanket so she could sleep on the way home. Moments later they were stopped at a light, and Lloyd turned to feel of Diane's forehead and cheeks. "Well hun, you don't have a fever but I can't be sure. I'll stop at the drugstore and get a thermometer."

"Okay…" she whispered. Diane rolled over to face the back window and noticed a pizza box. "Lloyd?"

"Yes?"

"Why is there a pizza box in the car? You know we can't afford pizza! That's twenty bucks wasted now!"

Lloyd could hear furry growing in her voice. " I meant to tell you when you got home. I found a job today at the Youth boxing and Karate Center! I thought we could celebrate! You know, pizza, beer, and we could end it by getting rid of some of the those bills on the coffee table."

"Really?"

Lloyd looked back at her and grinned. "Really." Diane smile a weak smile at him. It was hard, but he could tell that if she wasn't so weak, that smile would be ear-to-ear and she would be hopping up and down in her seat like some giddy school-girl. When the got to the drugstore Lloyd turned off the car.

"Oh…Lloyd? While your in there…can you…pick up…ugh…some…" Lloyd turned to looked at her.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Can you get some…pregnancy tests?"

Lloyd looked stunned and his face went pale for a minute. "Wait…What? Huh?"

"Pregnancy tests."

"Pregnancy tests?"

"Yes! Pregnancy tests! You know, those things that I pee on and then this little smiley face comes on and tells me whether I might have a baby? Those pregnancy tests!" Diane replied exasperated.

"Wait, when did this happen? How could this happen? I might be a dad? You might be a mom? A baby?"

"Yes hun, a baby." Diane said. "We'll talk about it when you get back Lloyd." Lloyd stepped out of the car, and raked his fingers on his scalp in stress.

"Oh, no!" Lloyd whispered as he dragged himself into the store.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lloyd's Letter

Diane sat on the bathroom toilet in the dark clenching the letter Lloyd had written her so long ago. She was wrapped in the throw blanket. There were three pregnancy tests on the counter next to a kitchen timer. Lloyd was pacing at the doorway. He was so nervous he hadn't yet removed his coat. He heard the timer go off and stopped pacing abruptly. Diane checked the three tests.

"What's it say?" Lloyd asked.

"All three are positive Lloyd." Diane's knees started to shake and goose bumps were forming on her arms. Her teeth were chattering violently before. Without question, Lloyd removed the coat and turned on the bathroom light, wrapping it about Diane's shoulders.

"Is that better?" he asked.

"I…I love…you" Diane said between quiet but violent sobs. Lloyd was a bit taken aback and knelt down to her eye level. With one hand, he ran his fingertips down Diane's shoulder. He put the other under her chin and made her look at him.

"Honey? What is this? These tears?"

"I'm scared!" she replied now in full on sobs, almost screaming.

"Of what, babe?" Lloyd spotted the blue envelope Diane was holding. "What's this?" He took the envelope and immediately recognized it. He put his thumb underneath each of her eyes and dried them.

"Of loosing you!" she screamed back. She put her head in her hands and shook hard from her sobs. All Lloyd could do for even the slightest bit of comfort was to move random strings of Diane's dark brunette hair back behind her ears.

"That's ABSURD! Diane, your it for me. I want you to have my kids. It just happened at a time that we hadn't planned for. Now you stop thinking that way right now.'' Lloyd said. Lloyd went up to Diane's ear and kissed it slowly. "Now Shhhhhhhh…" he whispered. Lloyd took Diane's hands and put them in her lap. Kissing each eyelid ever so slowly, he felt Diane jump with little sobs. Finally, he picked up the letter and opened it.

Lloyd whispered in her ear again, "Dear Diane, I'll always be there for you. All the love in my heart, Lloyd.'' Diane's sobs slowed. "I'll _ALWAYS_ be there for you, Diane." The sobs stopped.

"You mean it?" Diane asked.

"You should now I do." he reiterated.


End file.
